Logo insertion devices and techniques are widely available for commercial and non-commercial applications dealing exclusively with two dimensional (2D) images and video. In these applications, the source picture and a logo picture are input to a device which combines the inputs to form an output 2D picture. This output 2D picture includes the logo overlaid or blended with the source picture. Transparency, size, color, and position of the logo are generally parameters capable of being programmed to effect a change in the appearance of the logo in the output picture.
Logo insertion for 2D images is known to be performed on uncompressed video or on video in the compressed domain. In both cases, the logo insertion is typically accomplished without requiring decoding and re-encoding the image bit stream. For example, the Thomson Grass Valley Crystal Logo Inserter performs still and animated logo insertion directly in the MPEG-2 compressed video domain, thereby avoiding any decoding and re-encoding of the 2D signals. Other logo insertion products are commercially available for inserting a logo into a 2D image. In general, the logo picture is combined directly with the content picture so that the video output image frame includes the content with the logo properly placed thereon for 2D processing and display.
However, current commercially available logo insertion techniques and devices are not applicable for logo insertion into a stereo image, that is, a 3D image. That is, it has been determined that insertion of a logo into a 3D image by conventional logo insertion techniques will result in the presence of undesirable effects such as logo distortion and the like.